In Pictures: Syria's young refugees

About 1.6 million people from Syria have escaped its devastating civil war so far, and about half of them are children.

Nine-year-old Rania, right, sits on a swing inside her extended family\(***)s home in East Amman, an area where many Syrian refugees have rented apartments. Her father and all the men in the family are still in Syria.

Save the Children

Syrian children sleeping inside their family\(***)s tent in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. As the war drags on, the camps are becoming more cramped.

Save the Children

A man walks through a sandstorm on the edge of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

Save the Children

A Syrian boy wakes up inside his family\(***)s tent in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. As camp populations increase, basic provisions are becoming more sparse.

Save the Children

There are currently 1.6 million people from Syria in need of refugee assistance in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.
Approximately half of the refugees are children. Those who manage to escape often lack access to schools and safe places to play and are frequently living in cramped, overcrowded conditions.

Save the Children

Seven-year-old Haytham, left, and his 5-year-old brother Wassim, right, inside their tent in a settlement in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Particularly hard-hit are children.

A young Syrian refugee inside her family\(***)s temporary home in an unfinished building in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Save the Children

A Syrian family in a classroom that is not their home in a school occupied by Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon.

Save the Children

Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
Syrian children inside their family\(***)s tent in a settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Save the Children

North Lebanon.
A Syrian boy inside a tent settlement in northern Lebanon.

Save the Children

Amman, Jordan.
Thin mattresses and pillows used as beds inside a one-room apartment that houses an extended family of seven Syrian refugees in East Amman, Jordan.

Save the Children

Nine-year-old Rania, right, sits on a swing inside her extended family\(***)s home in East Amman, an area where many Syrian refugees have rented apartments. Her father and all the men in the family are still in Syria.

Save the Children

Syrian children sleeping inside their family\(***)s tent in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. As the war drags on, the camps are becoming more cramped.

Save the Children

A man walks through a sandstorm on the edge of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

Save the Children

A Syrian boy wakes up inside his family\(***)s tent in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. As camp populations increase, basic provisions are becoming more sparse.

Save the Children

There are currently 1.6 million people from Syria in need of refugee assistance in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.
Approximately half of the refugees are children. Those who manage to escape often lack access to schools and safe places to play and are frequently living in cramped, overcrowded conditions.

Save the Children

Seven-year-old Haytham, left, and his 5-year-old brother Wassim, right, inside their tent in a settlement in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Particularly hard-hit are children.

A young Syrian refugee inside her family\(***)s temporary home in an unfinished building in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Save the Children

A Syrian family in a classroom that is not their home in a school occupied by Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon.

Save the Children

Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
Syrian children inside their family\(***)s tent in a settlement in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Save the Children

North Lebanon.
A Syrian boy inside a tent settlement in northern Lebanon.

Save the Children

Amman, Jordan.
Thin mattresses and pillows used as beds inside a one-room apartment that houses an extended family of seven Syrian refugees in East Amman, Jordan.

Among the Syrian refugees located in camps in Jordan and Lebanon, children are particularly hard hit. A high perecentage of child fatalities occur while en route to escape the war in Syria.

While on this perilous journey, juveniles are often separated from their parents and left to die in the rugged terrain. Refugees describe this voyage as "death journey", according to NGO Save the Children.

"Death journey" consists of hiding from snipers and shelling, ventures into extreme weather without shelter, and desperate measures for nutrition, such as licking moisture from grass.

All across the Middle East - including Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey - there are currently 1.6 million people from Syria who have escaped its devastating civil war. In the past three months, nearly 600,000 refugees have fled, and the total number is expected to reach two million by the end of summer.

The children who managed to escape often lack access to schools and safe places to play, and are frequently living in cramped, overcrowded conditions.